Kylie Logan has loved mysteries since she was a kid. Her dad was a Cleveland Police detective and he introduced her to Sherlock Holmes stories and gave her investigating experience when on his days off, they’d pile into the car and hit the streets to look for stolen cars. When he retired from the force, Dad became head of security for the Cleveland Public Library. Crooks and books! Kylie comes by her love of mysteries honestly.
Kylie began her career writing historical romance and her book, “Devil’s Diamond,” was nominated for a RITA award as historical romance of the year by Romance Writers of America. She’s also written contemporary romance (as Connie Lane), young adult horror (as Zoe Daniels and Connie Laux) and she writes the popular Pepper Martin mysteries as Casey Daniels.
Kylie is currently writing three different mystery series: the Button Box mysteries (newest book is “Panic Button”), the League of Literary Ladies mysteries (“Mayhem at the Orient Express”) and now, the Chili Cook-Off mysteries. With all that on her plate, I am thrilled Kylie found the time to stop here on her tour with Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours and write a guest post for us. Be sure to leave a comment and an email to contact you to be eligible to win a copy of the ebook. Welcome Kylie.
Chicken and Egg: It’s a Classic!
By Kylie Logan
It’s the old chicken and egg conundrum:
Which came first, the degree in English that required me to read classic books?
Or my love of classic books that resulted in my pursuing a degree in English?
I don’t have the answer, but I do know that as a once-upon-a-time English major, the classics have always been a big part of my life. Give me Jane Austen and the Bronte sisters for romance, Anthony Hope and Rafael Sabatini for swashbuckling, and of course the greats, Arthur Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie, for mystery.
In fact, it is Christie along with those early memories of reading about Sherlock Holmes that made me want to write mysteries. There are wonderful, twisty/turny plots inside the covers of those books, clever detection, devious villains and clues that are sometimes hidden in plain sight.
But a series of mysteries based on classic books?
That idea didn’t come along until I’d already written five of the Cooking Class mysteries (as Miranda Bliss), nine of the Pepper Martin mysteries (as Casey Daniels) and the first three books of my Button Box mystery series.
Mysteries based on classic books . . . I liked the idea, but as always, the mechanics needed to be taken care of first.
I decided on a setting: South Bass Island, the Key West of Lake Erie.
And a group of characters: feuding neighbors, including my main character and sleuth, Bea Cartwright, a transplanted New Yorker who is searching for her bliss by running an upscale B&B on the island.
And a way to bring them together: a book discussion group that’s mandated by the local magistrate as a way to make the women get to know each other better.
The first book in the League of Literary Ladies mysteries was “Mayhem at the Orient Express,” my tribute to the Christie classic. And now, book #2 is making its appearance. It’s called “A Tale of Two Biddies.” Yes, the Ladies are reading that classic!
It’s only natural. Charles Dickens’s “A Tale of Two Cities” is a story about the French Revolution, and on South Bass Island, they’re celebrating Bastille Day with a week-long party. There’s a concert scheduled from a rock band called Guillotine, a Charles Dickens look-alike and trivia contest, and of course, there’s murder.
When the island nobody is killed, Bea and her fellow Literary Ladies spring into action. They discover that, like in the Dickens classic, not everyone is who or what they appear to be. There are secrets galore, even on an island that’s only 4-miles long!
I’m having fun with the League of Literary Ladies, and I hope you will, too. There’s a world of classics out there for me to turn on their heads. Classic books and murder–it’s this former English major’s dream come true!
BLURB
Summer can be the best of times or the worst of times for the resort town of Put-in-Bay on Lake Erie. For Bea Cartwright, business is booming as guests storm her B and B for the Bastille Day celebration. In honor of the holiday, the League of Literary Ladies is reading the Charles Dickens’ classic, A Tale of Two Cities. It would be hard to make a more apropos selection—especially when they have their very own Defarge sisters, elderly twins Margaret and Alice, who run the local knitting shop.
On Bastille Day, the head-banging rock band Guillotine shows their chops for the tourists—but the celebration is soon cut short. With something needling the Defarge dowagers and secrets that lead to murder, solving this mystery will be a far, far better thing than the Literary Ladies have done before. They’ll just have to make sure to keep their heads while they try to stop a killer’s reign of terror…
MY REVIEW
Let’s face it, she had me at the title! The League of Literary Ladies is a group of four squabbling neighbors; Bea, Chandra, Kate and Luella; who were sentenced by a judge to year of book club. Interesting sentence. The town is celebrating Bastille Day which includes a group of Dickens impersonators. It is a really fun read and the ending is a big surprise. There is also a bit of a cliff hanger in the romance department. There were references to a secret of Bea’s (wealth I suspect) and a previous case which I don’t know if would have been clearer if I had read the first book, MAYHEM AT THE ORIENT EXPRESS. Okay, it would have told me about the first case but who knows about the secret – maybe that is coming out in a later book. I just really wanted an excuse to go back and read the first book because this one was ♥♥♥♥♥
LINKS
- Webpage: www.kylielogan.com Also, www.caseydaniels.com
- Buy the book: AMAZON Book World B&N
TOUR PARTICIPANTS
January 25 – Beth’s Book Reviews – Review – Giveaway
January 26 –Books-n-Kisses – Review – Giveaway
January 27- rantin’ ravin’ and reading – Review – Guest Post – Giveaway
January 28 – My Recent Favorite books – Review – Giveaway
January 29 – Socrates’ Book Review Blog – Review- Guest Post – Giveaway
January 30 – fuonlyknew – Laura’s Ramblins and Reviews – Review
January 31 – books are life – vita libri – Review – Giveaway
February 1 – Community Bookstop – Review – Giveaway
February 2 – Reviews By Karen – Review – Guest Post – Giveaway
Kate Eileen Shannon 
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